This invention relates to breast shields that also function as milk collectors.
While breast feeding of infants is thought by many to provide numerous advantages, including overall convenience, it is not without its own inconveniences. The two major problems tend to be soreness of the nipple and leakage of milk between feedings. It is with these problems in mind that numerous devices have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,012 to Rushton, Jr., discloses a two-piece hollow breast shield which also functions as a milk collector. The device has a breast-confronting base and an overlying exterior cover. Such a hollow device fitting over the breast presents at least two problems. First, the very shape of the breast shield makes it likely that a vacuum will form within the milk receiving chamber. This would make removal of the device painful, and might even cause damage to the already delicate tissues.
Second, it is awkward to recover for use the milk that has collected within the device. Generally it will be necessary to disassemble the device, taking care that the cover is kept in a level position so that the milk accumulated therein is not spilled until it is poured out. The extra handling during disassembly increases the possibility of contamination and enhances the chance of spilling the collected milk, as for example by dropping the cover.
A solution for these problems, suggested by Rushton, is the provision of a small orifice in the cover near the top of the device for pouring out the collected milk. This small orifice also vents the interior of the breast shield, thereby preventing the formation of a vacuum within it.
However, this proposed solution has its own difficulty. When a woman who is wearing the breast shield in which milk has collected bends over, the milk leaks out of the small hole. The woman's clothing is soiled, and if the leakage extends to the woman's outer garments, it may prove to be a source of embarrassment. Thus, the effort to solve the aforementioned venting and emptying problems has led to a device with the same "leaking" problem that it was a major object of the breast shield to eliminate.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a breast shielding, milk collecting device which provides a vented interior and yet does not suffer from the "leakage" problem.